Method and apparatus for controlling muffle leers



Jan. 12, 1932. I A w RUSSELL 1,841,060

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING MUFFLE LEEIiS Filed May 9, 1929 6 Inventor.- WitneSS 5 1U .sse] 1 flttorney &

Patented Jan. 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALAN W. RUSSELL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HARTFORD-EMPIRE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A- CORPORATION OF DELAWARE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING MUFFLE LEERS Application filed May 9, 1929. Serial N0. 361,803.

I This invention relates to glass annealing leers of the muflie type and more partlcularly to improvements in the construction and -method of operating such leers to provide for controlled heat distribution laterally thereof. The improvements are shown in connection with a leer of the type illustrated and described in the patent of Mulholland 1,560,481 issued Nov. 3, 1925.

The Mulholland leer is provided with a control of the temperature gradient in the temperature controlling flues beneath the leer tunnel by the controlled admission of atmospheric air at spaced intervals therealong to the flues, which dilutes and cools the gases in the flues and thus establishes a desired temperature gradient in the tunnel. My improvement relates to the variaton of this air dilution, so as to provide for a differential dilution of the gases in the several flues, thus establishing or correcting differential temperature gradients in the flues with the efi'ect on the annealing above described.

Among the objects of the present invention are to provide in a mufile type annealing leer having a plurality of temperature controlling flues extending longitudinally of the leer tunnel and preferably below the path of the ware and in which the several flues are largely independent of each other, a substantially individual control for each flue, at least between the side-most flues and the flue or flues in the center. By this individual control, it is possible to operate the leer with somewhat higher temperatures at the sides than nearer the center, and thus supply suflicient heat 'to the side-most articles on the leer conveyor to compensate for the differential rate of loss of heat of these articles with respect to the articles nearer the center, the loss being through the side walls of the leer, which in the usual construction are unheated.

A further object of my invention is to provide a peculiar and novel form of damper mechanism for use in connection with the passages connected with the flues and by which the desired difl'erential control of the gases in the several flues may be easily and quickly accomplished.

Further objects of the invention are to provide novel methods of annealing glassware and operating a glass annealing leer, which may be of the form herein shown and hereinafter to be described, to produce a peculiarly advantageous relation of the annealing conditions and to produce more uniform and better annealed articles.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a reading of the following specification and subjoined claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a transverse vertical section of a leer tunnel embodying my invention take-n through the passages communicating with the flues and the damper mechanism;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal verticalsection of a portion of the leer tunnel adjacent to the exit end thereof taken substantially on the line 2-2 in Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section of the leer substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, the view being taken at the end of one of the tunnel sections and showing it in elevation;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical section on an enlarged scale of the damper mechanism taken substantially on the line H of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical section similar to Fig. 4 taken substantially on the line 55 of Figure 1; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view substantially in longitudinal vertical section showing a commercial glass annealing leer having a plurality of air inlet ports to the flue system beneath the leer tunnel, which ports are adapted to be provided with apparatus constructed according to my invention,.

My invention may advantageously be applied to a construction as shown in the Mulholland patent above referred to, and for this reason I have shown in Fig. 6 a diagrammatic view corresponding generally to Fig. 1 of the aforesaid Mulholland patent. In this figure in the present application is shown a glass annealing leer including an elongate tunnel 1 rovided with a temperature controlling. ue system A therebeneath which system is adapted to be supplied with heated ases froma combustion chamber B. Ware is conveyed through the tunnel upon a conveyor indicated at 6, which is adapted to be moved by a drive mechanism generally indicated at C in Fig. 6 and described in detail in the aforesaid Mulholland patent. In order to control the temperature gradient in the flue s stem A beneath the tunnel, there is indicate a' plurality of air admission ports D controlled by suitable damper mechanisms E. My invention relates articularly to an improvement in the speci "c damper mechanlsms E, these improvements being shown more in detail in the remaining figures of the accompanying drawings and being hereinafter described. The leer as shown comprises a partially insulated tunnel generally indicated at 1 and made up of a plurality of substantially interchangeable metallic sections 2 having bottom walls 3, side walls 4 and a top wall 5. The insulation preferably is nsedonly in connection with the hotter portions. The ware is carried through the tunnel on an endless conveyor 6, preferably of wire mesh fabric and driven by a means generally indicated at C (Fig. 6) as shown in the Mulholla-nd patent above referred to, the conveyor returning beneath the tunnel as shown in Figures 1, 3 and 6. The bottom wall 3, as shown, is a common wall with a plurality.

of fines 7, 8, 9, and 10, four being shown in the present instance, but any suitable number, preferably at least three, may be employed. The top wall 5 is shown as corrugated and is provided with cooling fines 11, which may be provided with temperature control means similar to that shown and to be described in connection with the heating fines '7, 8, 9, and 10. The sections 2 of the leer tunnel may be provided with suitable rollers 12 (Fig. 1) which are mounted for movement on rails 13 as in the Mulholland patent above referred to, the leer preferably eing anchored at the ware-entering end, and being. ermitted to expand under the infinence 0 heat by the movement of the rollers 12 along the rails 13. The rails 13 are suitably supported by spaced pedestals as shown at .14, Figure 2. Hot gases are supplied to the fines 7, 8, 9, and 10 from any suitable source, such as a firebox B (Fig. 6), adjacent to the entrance end and are withdrawn from the heating fines 7, 8, 9, and 10 through inclined passages 15 and saddle fines 16, Figures 2 and 3, to the windbox 17, being withdrawn therefrom by any suitable means such as a stack or exhaust fan.

I have shown in Figures 2 and 3, an individual damper 18 for each of the inclined passages 15, thus controlling the draft of each of the fines 7 8, 9, and 10 independently, the dampers being mounted on separate shafts and being individually controlled two from each side, by handles 19, Figure 2. In the construction shown, a cooling medium,

damper, and the conduit 20 being in addition provided with a damper, such as is shown at 21, for'controlling the total draft of the cooling medium.

The fines 7, 8, 9, and 10 are in the illustrated embodiment of the invention designed to be non-communicating and are each provided with a plurality of sets of downwardly directed passages 21, 22, 23 and 24 (Fig. 1)

corresponding to the air inlet passages shown in the Mulholland patent, the sets being disposed at intervals along the length of the fines 7 to 10 as shown in Fig. 6. Inasmuch as the construction so far described is substantially all shown and described in the Mulholland patent, save that the tines do not communicate, it is believed that further detailed description is unnecessary.

My invention relates particularly to the means for controlling the draft through passages 21, 22, 23 and 24 and for this purpose, I have shown a duplex damper device by which there are two separate draft controls, one of which controls simultaneously the draft through each of the passages, and the other of which controls the additional draft through the center passages 22 and 23 communicating with flues 8 and 9, it usually being desired that these fines be operated at a somewhat lower temperature than the side-most lines 7 and 10. 1

For this purpose, I have shown two sector shapedmembers25 and 26 which are rotatable in a suitable bearing portion in the passages 21 to 2 about a common axis and are individually controllable by handles 27 and 28 respectively. These members are provided Ill with semi-cylindrical recesses adjacent to their axis of rotation, which cooperate with a centering rod 29 journaled in the cylindrical end portions of members 25 and 26 and serving to maintain the members 25 and 26 in proper relation intermediate their ends. The member 25 is provided with cut-out segments '30, one opposite each of the passages 21, 22,

10 the outer atmosphere' These inter-engaging portions may be constructed as follows: Referring to Figure 5, the member 26 is shown provided with a sector-shaped lip defined by the radial lines 32 and 33 and the arcuate lines 34 and 35, and the member 25 is'provided with a groove defined by the radial lines 36 and 37 and continuations of the arcuate lines 34 and 35. One of these inter-em gaging lip and groove constructions is preferably provided adjacent to each of the partitions 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42. The member 25 terminates as shown at the line 43, Figure 1, and the portion of the member 26 to the right of this line, as seen in said figure is cylindrical. The construction is similar at the left hand side of this figure with respect to the termination of the member 26 which is shown at the dotted line 44.

Turning now to the operation of the device, the handles 27 are adjusted to set the damper member 25 of each set at such ositions that the desired temperature gra ient will be established in the side-most fiues 7 and 10. The handles 28 are then adjusted to admit sufiicient additional air to the center flues 8 and 9 that they may be somewhat cooler than the side-most fiues. The sidemost articles of glassware lose heat somewhat more rapidly to and through the side walls 4' of the leer tunnel than do the articles in the center, which are controlled as to temperature directly by the top and bottom temperature controlling fiues 11 and 7 to 10, and the temperature, differential between the center fiues 8 and 9 and the side-most fiues 7 and 10 is preferably such that this differential cooling due to loss of heat through the unheated side walls will be exactly compensated for, so

that the temperature in any transverse sec-- tion of the leer will be uniform and the glass articles being annealed will be correspondingly uniformly annealed in all their parts. This uniformity of transverse temperature distribution becomes increasingly important as the transverse dimensions of articles being annealed increases and is probably the most important with sheet glass or articles of somewhat similar dimensions. Various ways have been proposed to accomplish this purpose, but it is believed that the present one affords a more simple, efficient and direct method than any heretofore proposed.

WhileI have shown a leer construction in which my invention may be applied and which utilizes the admission of atmospheric air to the leer fiues for diluting and cooling the gases therein to control the temperature gradient therealong, I contemplate the use of the same or similar construction in connection with a leer of the type in which gases are withdrawn at intervals from the lower fiues to some suitable outlet and in which the withdrawal is used to reduce the volume of gases per minute flowing along various sections or zones of the leer tunnel and thus reduce the heat mass of the gases and the temperature thereof, this in turn controlling the temperature gradient in the leer tunnel. It is obvious that the invention could be equallywell applied to such a construction, and also that an increased passage opening to the center fiues would have a similar effect on the temperature differential. Various other modifications of my present construction and method are within the purview of my invention and I do not wish to be limited, therefore, except by the scope of the appended claims, which are to be construed as broadly as the state of the prior art permits.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a tunnel leer for annealing glassware having a means for passing glass articles continuously through an elongate tunnel, at least three independent longitudinally extending temperature controlling fiues beneath said tunnel and having a common wall therewith, means to supply hot gases to said fiues adjacent to the entrance end of said tunnel, means to withdraw gases from said fiues, a plurality of spaced sets of passages communicating between said fiues and the atmosphere for permitting the introduction into said fiues of air to dilute and cool the gases therein, each set having an independent passage communicating with each flue, a compound damper mechanism associated with said sets for controlling the admission of air to each of said fiues, and a duplex control for said damper mechanism one part of which controls simultaneously the admission of air to each of the passages of a set and the other part of which controls the admission of'additional air to a center fiue passage of the set, whereby the temperature conditions transversely of the leer may be rendered uniform. I I

2. In a tunnel leer for annealing glassware having a means for passing glass articles continuously through an elongate tunnel, at

least three independent longitudinally extending temperature controllin fiues associated with said tunnel, a plurahty of spaced sets of passages communicating with said fiues for varying the volume of gases passing per unit of time through contiguous portions thereof, each set having an independent passage communicating with each flue, and a damper mechanism associated with each set of passages to control independently the volume of gases passing per unit of time through certain of the passagesiof each set with respect to the remaining passages, said mechanism comprising two coaxial sector members having cut-out segments and indcpendent means for moving each of said menu bers, whereby the amount of gases passing through certain of said passages are controlled by one of said members and. the passage of gases through certain other of said passages are controlled by the other of said members.

3. In a tunnel leer for annealing glassware having a means for passing glass articles continuously through an elongate tunnel, at least three independent longitudinally extending temperature controlling fines associated with said tunnel, a plurality of spaced sets of passages communicating with said flues for varying the volume of gases passing per unit of time through contiguous portions thereof, each set having an independent passage com municating with each flue, and a damper mechanism associated with each set of passages to control independently the volume of gases passing per unit of time through certain of the passages of each set with respect to the remaining passages, said mechanism comprising two independent sector members having cut-out segments and rotatable about a common axis, and means for rotatively ad justing each of said members-independently, one of said members having a cut-out segment opposite each of said passages, whereby to control the passage of gases therethrough simultaneously, and the other of said members having a cut-out segment opposite each of the center passages, whereby to control the passage of gases therethrough differentially with respect to the side-most passages. I

4. In a tunnel leer for annealing glassware having a means for passing glass articles continuously through an elongate tunnel, at least three independent longitudinally extending temperature controlling fines associated with said tunnel, a plurality of spaced sets of passages communicating with said flues for varying the volume of gases passing per unit of time through contiguous portions thereof, each set having an independent passage communicating with each fine, and a damper mechanism associated with each set of passages to control independently the volume of gases passing per unit of time through certain of the passages of each set with respect to the remaining'p'assages, said mechanism comprising two independent sector members having cutout segments and rotatable about a common axis, means for ro-.

tatively adjusting each of said members independently, and inter-engaging means between said members to prevent communication between contiguous passages.

5. In a tunnel leer' for annealing glassware having a means for passing glass articles continuously through an elongate tunnel, at least three independent longitudinally extending temperature controlling flues associated with said tunnel, a plurality of spaced sets of passages communicating with said flues for varying the volume of gases passing per unit of time through contiguous portions thereof, each set having an independent passage communicating with each flue, and a damper mechanism associated with each set of passages to control independently the volume of ases passing per unit of time through certain of the passages of each set with respect to the remaining passages, said mechanism comprising two sector members rotatable in a bearing portion of the passages of each set about a common axis, independent means for rotating each of said members about said axis, one of said members having a cut-out segment opposite each of said passages, the other having cut-out segments opposite certain of the passages, whereby said certain passages may be opened to a greater extent than the others, and inter-engaging portions on said members to prevent communication between contiguous passages and between the passages and the atmosphere.

6. The method of annealing glassware, which comprises passing glass articles continuously through a tunnel, passing at least three non-communicating streams of hot gases beneath and substantially parallel to the path of movement of the glass articles, and independently regulating the temperaj ture gradient of one of said streams of gases with respect to at least two of the remaining streams by diluting all of said streams at spaced intervals and in differing amounts with atmospheric air. I

7. The method of annealing glassware, which 'comprises passing glass articles continuously through a tunnel, passing at least three non-communicating streams of hot gases beneath and substantially parallel to j the path of movement of the glass articles, independently regulating the temperature gradient of a centerone of said streams with respect to the side-most streams by diluting all of said streams at spaced intervals and 3 in differing amounts with atmospheric air, and adjusting the differential of air admission to the point where the additional heat in the side-most streams will maintain the sidemost articles of glassware at substantially the same temperature as those nearer the center by compensating for the differential loss of heatof the articles through the side. Walls of the tunnel.

8. In a tunnel leer for annealing glassware having a means for passing glass articles continuously through an elongate tunnel, a longitudinally extending temperature controlling fiue system associated with said tunnel, a plurality of spaced sets of passages 1 communicating with said flue system for varying the volume of gases passing per unit of time through contiguous portions thereof, each set comprising independent passages 5 communicating with the flue system at laterally spaced points, a compound damper mechanism associated with said sets for controlling the flow of'gases along each of said passages, and a duplex control for said 10 damper mechanism, one part of which controls simultaneously the flowof gases along each of said passages of a set and the other part of which controls an additional flow of gases through the center passage of the set,

5 whereby the temperature conditionstransversely of the leer may be rendered uniform. Signed at Hartford, Conn, this 2nd day of May, 1929.

ALAN W. -RUSSELL. 20 

